Jerry Brown: Protect Children From Brain-Harming Pesticide

Ignoring decades of independent study, and clear links to human health harms -- especially for kids -- U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt recently decided to keep the brain-harming pesticide chlorpyrifos on the market.

This neurotoxic insecticide was banned for home use in 2001, because of its clear impact on children's developing brains, but it's still being used on crops across the country.

California can change that. Speak up today and urge Governor Jerry Brown to ban this harmful pesticide.

It's a clear case of putting the health of the American people ahead of profits for corporate chemical companies, but since Scott Pruitt won't take action, it's up to Californians.

The body of science on chlorpyrifos is crystal clear. Childhood and prenatal exposure to this chemical can lead to devastating brain disorders, reduced lung function and other harms. EPA scientists don't mince words about chlorpyrifos. There is "no safe level" of this neurotoxicant on food crops.

TAKE ACTION -- tell Gov. Brown to lead the charge and ban chlorpyrifos in California today!
Dear Governor Brown,

I am writing to express my dismay at U.S. EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt's recent refusal to ban the neurotoxic organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos on all food crops. In light of Pruitt's intransigent, anti-science agenda and even the California Attorney General's call for a ban, I urge you to step in where the federal government has failed.

[Your comment will be added here]

Childhood and prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos can lead to changes in brain structure, loss of IQ, ADHD, developmental and behavioral disorders, and reduced lung function, among other harms. Recognizing the threat to children's development posed by chlorpyrifos exposure, the U.S. EPA banned all home use of chlorpyrifos in 2001 but allowed its continued use in agricultural fields — leaving children in farmworker communities at disproportionate risk from this hazardous pesticide.

More chlorpyrifos is used on fields in California than in any other state in the nation, with more than 1 million pounds applied to crops each year. This is disturbing since U.S. EPA scientists concluded at the end of last year that:


  • All chlorpyrifos food exposures exceed safe levels, with children ages 1-2 years of age exposed to levels 14,000% higher than what EPA scientists consider safe. Infants face levels 9,300 percent higher than what the agency's scientists consider safe, with youth 11,000 percent higher and women of childbearing age 6,200 percent higher. 

  • U.S. EPA scientists also concluded that levels of chlorpyrifos in the air pose a risk to children and women of childbearing age, with the highest air concentrations found at air monitoring sites in California -- also far exceeding EPA safety levels. 

  • All workers who mix and apply chlorpyrifos are exposed to levels EPA scientists consider unsafe, regardless of protective equipment and other safety measures. 


In light of these conclusions from agency scientists, and an incredibly solid body of scientific evidence showing harm to children and farmworker health, it's time to discontinue use of this clearly hazardous pesticide. I urge you to ban use of chlorpyrifos in California.

Thank you for your leadership on this important issue.

Sincerely,

[Your name]
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